33 states report on stimulus job creation

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The $787 billion stimulus package passed in January is credited with saving or creating 388,000 jobs in 33 states, reports from individual states show.

A federal report compiling data from all 50 states is due Friday, USA Today reported Wednesday. In the meantime, the figure from states already reporting -- meant to be an actual count, not an estimate -- appears to back up the claim from President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers that 600,000 to 1.1 million jobs have been created or saved, the newspaper said.

Former economic adviser to President George W. Bush Kevin Hassett said the state reports "vastly overstates," the number of jobs salvaged or created.

States say the bulk of the jobs rescued are in the field of education. California reports 20,000 teaching positions saved, while Indiana reports 13,000.

Of the 33 reports, 23 report on educational positions. Added up, 156,000 educational jobs have been saved among the 23 states, the newspaper said.